Why Blogging is Good for EFL Teachers

If you are an EFL teacher and have just started blogging, you probably have a big problem with motivation. Blogging is time-consuming and at first it feels like nobody is reading your blog. So you might be thinking about giving up. Please don't. I have come up with nine reasons why blogging is good for EFL teachers:

1. Because it is more fun than writing lesson plans.

I am sure your head is full of imaginative lesson ideas. If you are like me, you will often get cold feet before you do something bold in class, something different from what you usually do. Blogging about your ideas, no matter how crazy they sound, will give you the courage to try them out.

2. Because sharing is caring.

If other bloggers find your posts useful, they will visit your blog more often and leave really useful comments. Sometimes their comments will improve your original idea and someone might even start an interesting discussion. Sometimes they will just say: "Great post. Loved your idea. Thanks for sharing." And that will make you feel great about what you are doing and you will start posting regularly. Other bloggers will find out about you and soon your blog will be flourishing.

3. Because it will make you a better teacher.

I do believe that blogging has made me a better teacher. The mere fact that I sit down and write about what I am going to do or why I have done something in class makes me reflect on my teaching style.

4. Because you will never stop learning.

There are lots of great EFL teachers who blog. You will be learning from them and with them. If at first it feels like you are the one who is receiving all the knowledge and giving nothing in return, that will soon change. And let me tell you that the blogging community needs the people who can ask the right questions as much as it needs those who will answer them.

5. Because you will never feel alone any more.

Let's face it - once you walk into that classroom, you are on your own. Yes, I am aware of the fact that the classroom is full of people, but both you and I know that there is a gap between you and them. They are the students, you are the teacher and that's that. The good news is that you can share your classroom experiences in your blog. And you will find out that other teachers understand you, no matter where they are from. They know.

6. Because it is fun.

Obviously, you need to enjoy writing in order to start blogging. I would never run a marathon only because someone claimed it would improve my teaching style. I hate running and I am really bad at it. But writing (and blogging) makes me happy. If you are like me, go ahead. You have got nothing to lose and you'll have the time of your life.

7. Because you will meet great people.

Bloggers are, as a rule, great people. They are supportive of each other and friendly. A lot of the people I have met through blogging are not teachers at all. Still, we have something in common. We are bloggers. (You have to bear in mind that, though a lot of people blog, not all of them call themselves bloggers. A blogger sees blogging as his/her primary online activity.)

8. Because you care.

You care about your students. And you are a great teacher. So, let the other teachers know about you and learn from you. Which brings me to my last point

9. Because what we do matters.

We are important. We change people's lives in so many ways. We teach them, we support them, we love them. The world should know about us.

If you have just started blogging, I would really like to be one of your first readers. And if you have never left a comment in someone's blog, go ahead and leave one here. I will be happy to meet you.

Technorati Tags: TEFL, blogging, teachers, EFL

Down Memory Lane

My son is nine and his school year finished on Friday. To celebrate, we took him out to dinner yesterday. So there I was, sitting in that beautiful garden, looking at the faces of the people I love, when I was suddenly overwhelmed by sadness. It came out of nowhere and it brought tears to my eyes. I was transported way, way back in time. I was sitting at a similar table, looking at the faces I love, only now I was nine and the faces were those of my parents.

Life passes so quickly, doesn't it?

I was still sad when I came home, so I decided to do something creative with that feeling. It usually helps. I remembered I had seen this little film in TheEngTeacher's blog:

I grew up in Belgrade, so the names of the products and the TV shows didn't speak to me. Instead I started remembering the things we used to eat and the shows we used to watch. Yes, I grew up in the 70s too. And it all came back to me. So, I went and searched You Tube for the pieces of my own childhood. That place is like a time capsule. I found a huge collection of old Yugoslav commercials and children's TV shows. However, I have decided to share this little gem:

I don't know when exactly this video was made (might have been much later than the time when I was this old). Still, I can feel the rough material of the blue school uniform against my skin and I can feel my mother pulling back my hair every morning as she was tying a ribbon similar to that the girl is wearing (ah, the torture).

Naturally, I started thinking how this could be used in class and I came up with a couple of ideas:

1. If your students are children or teenagers, find a video that reminds you of your childhood and share it with them. Ask them to compare your childhood to theirs. Be brave, as they will probably laugh at the clothes and the hairstyles.

2. If your students are adults and if they are good with computers, ask them to find videos and pictures that remind them of their own childhood. Have them organise those in a wiki format or put them in their blogs.

3. If your students are not very good with computers, you can make a surprise wiki for them. Find out how old they are and search the Web for the things that might have a special meaning for them.

This is a good starting point for a discussion or a writing task. And, since the topics of childhood and school days often appear in textbooks, this is a good way to make them more vivid and meaningful for the students.

Technorati Tags: TEFL, nostalgia, 70s, lessonplan, YouTube

You know the end of the school year is near when

- You haven't blogged for three weeks (because your blog is about teaching and you are so tired of teaching that you have nothing to say).

- You are thinking about starting a travel blog instead.

- You sigh loudly in front of your students at the beginning of the class. Realising what you have done, you say the heat is killing you.

- You have started counting the hours you have to spend teaching until the holiday begins (105).

- You are thinking about the beginning of the next school year with horror.

- All your lesson plans somehow revolve around the topic of summer holidays.

- You are thinking about starting a fashion blog.

- You finally write a very, very short post, just to get it over with. Then you hope your readers will add more ideas to your very, very short post.

So, how do you know the end of the school year is near?

Technorati Tags: TEFL, holidays

So Long, Vincent

I already shared this slideshow on this blog once before. Unfortunately, I never bothered to write a proper blog post to follow it. Alas, I was young and foolish. And lazy.

Anyway, had I written a proper blog post with the slideshow, this is how it would have sounded:

"Van Gogh's museum in Second Life is a magical place. Imagine living inside one of Vincent's paintings - sitting in that cafe of his pretending to be a regular, posing in front of the fountain or under the starry sky. Imagine looking at the paintings that no longer exist. Van Gogh's Museum in Second Life is so beautiful that you will never want to leave."

Something like that. Except that Van Gogh's Museum in Second Life no longer exists. Alongside with a lot of other cool places elsewhere on the Web (for example, where is English Droid?!).

Nothing lasts for ever on the Internet. Take Twitter, for example. Sometimes I read a tweet that is really funny or really wise (or both at the same time). Unless I remember who has written it, I will never be able to find it again. And it is a pity.

Imagine what Shakespeare's tweets would have been like. And imagine losing them forever on the Internet. 

Then, there are digital photos. They are all over the place - digital frames, Web albums, mobiles, emails... None of these things last for ever. And very few people still bother with hard copies. 

I wonder how our culture will look to the next generation. Will there be enough of our culture for the next generation to study? And how do we preserve what we have? 

Technorati Tags: 31DBBB, Day21, SecondLife, Twitter  

Let's have a Susan Boyle Moment

I had a Susan Boyle week. I did Susan Boyle in my Intermediate class, then I had a very similar lesson in my Pre-Intermediate class, then I used the idea as a warmer in my CPE class and I think I am going to try something similar on Tuesday in my Elementary class.

My husband said I just needed an excuse to listen to her voice. He was right.

Anyway, this is how I did it: I played the audio of Susan singing Cry Me a River (it is much less famous than Les Miserables and it is a beautiful song) and I asked the students to imagine the woman singing it. Needless to say, they concluded she was tall, slim, beautiful, in her 30s and had long hair. They couldn't agree whether she was a blonde or a brunette. Then I showed them Susan's photo and everybody recognised her. They had all seen the You Tube video or at least heard about it.

After that I did different things. In my Intermediate class I pretended I was Susan and they interviewed me. I used their questions and my answers to revise indirect speech. Then we discussed the whole Susan Boyle phenomenon and we talked about our own dreams and ambitions. Finally, I gave them the Cry Me a River lyrics. In the Pre-Intermediate class I used the lyrics to introduce a couple of phrases and idioms ("You drove me out of my head", "You said that you were through with me") and then they decided to sing along. In CPE we got more philosophical and discussed the economic chrisis and the music industry.

And I am not the only one. I know of at least two EFL teachers who came up with their own Susan Boyle lesson plans. Check out Karenne's post (the lesson plan can be downloaded) and then visit Susana's blog. Susana's students left some great comments. 

Why does this type of lesson plan work? 

Well, it is up to date and, as one of my students said, "She gives people hope." We can always do with a little hope in an EFL class. We can do with a little hope everywhere.

If you have your own Susan Boyle lesson plan, please share it here. Or just come and brainstorm your ideas in the comments section. If you are reading this and you are not an EFL teacher, you can still share your ideas here. Or your dreams.

Let's have a Susan Boyle moment. 

Technorati Tags: SusanBoyle, EFL, ELT, 31DBBB, Day23 

 

The Little Imperfections and What not to Talk about in Class

Razlan wrote an excellent post on 10 things he'd like people to say at his funeral. He also shared this wonderful film in his post.

I was wondering if it could be used in class... Both the film and the idea behind the post, I mean. What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?

I can see you getting up from your chairs and waving a fist at me (which is great, because at least you'll get some exercise that way, after all the time you've spent in front of your computer). The ideas this woman has. And she was told a long time ago never, and I mean never to mention death in her class. And religion. And...

OK, I probably won't use the "10 things" idea anyway. But the video would be great and, in fact,  it has been used for that purpose. As Sze says in the ad maker's blog:

"Just to let you know, I used this short film with my civics class, after I asked all 28 of them to share what they couldn't stand about their family (they loved talking about that!). After viewing this film, the hyperactive 18-year-olds became really sombre and I peeked to see one of my boys actually tearing a little. We then talked about family and also the notion of perfection in their future life partners. I think they learnt some lessons today."

I think this is a good idea. In fact, I think I'll embed this video in my intermediate wiki and write a couple of questions for them to think about. I might even add the: What would you like people to say at your....

OK, OK, you hate me. I'll stop here. But I would really like to hear what you have to say. I have one simple question for you:

What do you never talk about in your English class?

Technorati Tags: 31DBBB, Day7 EFL, teaching, education 

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25 Days to Keep Your EFL Students Motivated

Student Motivation

25 Ways to Keep Your EFL Students Motivated

1. Show them that you care. Show them that they are important to you as human beings, not just as students.
2. Use positive emotions in class. There is a better chance that they will remember what you did.
3. Use humour as much as possible.
4. Give them quality homework. Start a blog, create a wiki, give them project work.
5. Give them visual input. Pictures, images, photos.
6. I know this one is obvious, but do your best to make your classes interesting.
7. Bring their personal interests into class. If they have a hobby, let them talk about it.
8. Whenever possible, personalise their homework. Make it relevant for them.
9. Give them a lot of feedback and, if possible, make it positive.
10. Help them set realistic goals. If their goals are set too low, they will learn nothing new. If they are set too high, they will be disappointed.
11. Let them feel safe. Make the classroom a safe place for them to make mistakes and ask questions.
12. Praise them. Concentrate on what they are good at.
13. Challenge them. Show them how much they can achieve. It is often much more than they thought they could achieve.
14. Give them choice. Let them choose which activity they will do first and how they will do it. That way, they will feel included in the decision-making process.
15. Whenever possible, make the exercises open-ended and personalise them.
16. Teach them how to be autonomous. Teach them how to learn, how to organise their knowledge and how to find information.
17. Teach them how to assess their own knowledge. Introduce portfolio assessment as early as possible.
18. Explain the purpose of every activity. Don't say that you are going to "play a game". Tell them that they are going to practise reported speech, polite requests or whatever you are really going to practise. When explaining the purpose of an activity, start with yourself. If you don't know why you are going to do something, don't do it.
19. Give clear instructions. This is something I often have a problem with, and I find writing the instructions down before I go into class really helpful.
20. Show enthusiasm.
21. Don't wear a mask in class. Let them see what you are really like as a person. If they like you, they will like your class. This is true for adults as much as it is true for the children.
22. Ask for feedback. Show them that you really want it.
23. Create the group spirit. Encourage them to cooperate and help each other.
24. Make sure that everybody knows everybody else's name.
25. Get them interested in Web 2.0. Teach them how to make the Internet their classroom.

What would you add to this list?

Technorati Tags: 31DBBB, Day2, EFL, ELT, Motivation

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